Is buying movies over the internet viable?

[yester64]

I ask myself the question all the time.

Since the new age of the internet and how we consume music now (buy online, download) i wonder if that applies to movies as well.
Last i checked Amazon and it seemed quite complicated. You can rent/buy and you can stream or download them with a program unbox it is called if i recall it correctly. I never did this and i am very hesitant for the moment to buy in this way online.
Of course you can buy movies still as a hardware of sorts. Pricewise it seems that regular DVD/Blueray is more cheaper than to buy them online as a download.
Sometimes, i checked Google for this, there is no Blueray version available.

Why i am asking this? Well, in my effort to reduce physical copies and to move everything to a computer and to stay legal i wanted to just buy it easy on the internet. But it seems that movies are not that easy since they do also contain DRM in the file.

Perhaps just streaming is the answer, not sure about it. It seem less complicated and the ownership is clear. You don't own it.

How does everyone else do it. Just buy the regular copy or stream or download or both.

[Michael]

I frequently rent movies on Xbox. If you decide to buy it, I am not sure if it actually downloads to your hard drive, but it does have a token in your account allowing you to stream it forever.

[metalliqaz]

I don't trust the system in general.

When you buy a DVD, you can own it and play it forever.  When you 'buy' a movie through some online distribution, you are only paying for the privilege to stream the movie under the following conditions

1) the company stays in business and they continue to offer the service
2) you remain a customer in good standing with the company, and you retain control of your account
3) you continue to own (and use!) the specific device that is tied to the movie or your account

That isn't owning anything.  That is bull****.  I do occasionally buy downloadable content, when it makes sense.  Those that are delivered as a DRM-free, high-def MP4 file, usually.

[Michael]

I don't trust the system in general.

When you buy a DVD, you can own it and play it forever.  When you 'buy' a movie through some online distribution, you are only paying for the privilege to stream the movie under the following conditions

1) the company stays in business and they continue to offer the service
2) you remain a customer in good standing with the company, and you retain control of your account
3) you continue to own (and use!) the specific device that is tied to the movie or your account

That isn't owning anything.  That is bull****.  I do occasionally buy downloadable content, when it makes sense.  Those that are delivered as a DRM-free, high-def MP4 file, usually.

Unfortunately, that is the future of entertainment media. Media like Blu-Ray will be around for a bit longer, but eventually everything is going to be 100% digital distribution.

[metalliqaz]

And I won't be buying.

[yester64]

I wonder why, if you don't own it, the prices don't reflect that.
Now i know that it is a convenient thing but still.... The movie industry goes a very different direction than the music industry.

I mean there are not many movies i really want to buy because there are not so good that you watch them over and over. Still, sometimes you would.
Talking about Blueray. I thought with Blueray i would have features like different languages and not the region code but the industry again destroyed my trust.
More and more new movies don't have language option other than those for the region you live in. Also i can still not buy movies from oversees unless there region free. <angry nerd> 

[Michael]

I wonder why, if you don't own it, the prices don't reflect that.
Now i know that it is a convenient thing but still.... The movie industry goes a very different direction than the music industry.

I mean there are not many movies i really want to buy because there are not so good that you watch them over and over. Still, sometimes you would.
Talking about Blueray. I thought with Blueray i would have features like different languages and not the region code but the industry again destroyed my trust.
More and more new movies don't have language option other than those for the region you live in. Also i can still not buy movies from oversees unless there region free. <angry nerd> 

To own the movie on Xbox is around 20 dollars. To rent it is about 5 dollars. As digital rights change from hardcopy media to pure digital, the meaning of 'ownership' will change. There needs to be a universal ownership token that can be passed from company to company if one goes out of business. Almost like a credit card, but with movie tokens on it.

[yester64]

True.

What puts me mostly off is the price structure. For example if i rent a movie it is more like a price you expect from a mortar store rental place. Redbox has a more better price structur in my view.
I rented a couple of months ago one of the rob zombie movies which is already kind of old. Still it was $1.99 to rent. Ok its not that expensive but still. Newer movies are in the $5 Dollar range for HD.
Never rented a movie on either Xbox or PS network. I stream mostly over netflix.
Buying on the other hand seems like a bad deal since the actual movie is mostly cheaper to buy as a hardcopy than to download.
If the toke would rest with the owner of the copy (maybe universal or sony or whomever) this would be perhaps a better way.
Like i said, i was hoping for an alternative to own a copy of a movie but there are so many restriction that it is not fun to do it over the internet besides renting maybe.

[mashby]

I've had an excellent experience with Apple. I've purchased movies and television programs and I can watch them on all my devices: AppleTV, iPhone, iPad and can download the files to my computers.They've been the most reliable and consistent of the vendors that I've purchased from.

Granted, you have to be comfortable with participating in the Apple ecosystem and I know that many here are not.

[metalliqaz]

I was under the impression that with iTunes you could move content to 1 new device, then it's stuck.  So if your upgrade chain moves through more than a few ipods, iphones, macbooks, ipads, etc. then you're starting to lose things you paid for.  Is that wrong?

[Tym]

I was under the impression that with iTunes you could move content to 1 new device, then it's stuck.  So if your upgrade chain moves through more than a few ipods, iphones, macbooks, ipads, etc. then you're starting to lose things you paid for.  Is that wrong?

That is wrong; many things (app wise) have multiple versions (1 for iPad 1 for iPhone) but other things like movies and music are on your account which you can do what you like with.

[Michael]

I was under the impression that with iTunes you could move content to 1 new device, then it's stuck.  So if your upgrade chain moves through more than a few ipods, iphones, macbooks, ipads, etc. then you're starting to lose things you paid for.  Is that wrong?

It should act like books on Amazon. Any device you can install Kindle reader, you should be able to download it to. That's how it 'should' work for everything.

[yester64]

Thats what i really hate, that you are forced to use specific devices in order to enjoy what every you want to enjoy.
Why can it not be viewable everywhere? You have ithings, Amazon, google and others and everytime you need to use a program or api from them. Very inconvenienced. Of course it does make sense to the seller.

[Michael]

Thats what i really hate, that you are forced to use specific devices in order to enjoy what every you want to enjoy.
Why can it not be viewable everywhere? You have ithings, Amazon, google and others and everytime you need to use a program or api from them. Very inconvenienced. Of course it does make sense to the seller.

Ummm.... Kindle works on PC, Mac, iPhone, Android and pretty much any device you can think of. How is that an inconvenience? Amazon is doing it right.

[RabRhee]

Aren't there other considerations with bought digital stuff, like the recent complaints that upon someone's death, the contract allowing access to that media ends?

Personally I just buy DVDs, use MagicDVD to convert to hard disk, stash the DVD in a box out the way, and play from hard disk thereafter. That way at least I have access to the original should my digital copies or access fail in some way. In Britain now they are a generally acceptable of converting between formats if you own at least one legal copy.  If I sold, lent out or gave away the DVD then I should delete the hard disk version of course. Books are a bit trickier as there is not an easy convert from paper to digital, but Amazon are a bit saner than some music and film setups.

[noisyturtle]

The last movie I actually paid to see was Prometheus, and that was the first one in about 3-4 years. It's sad, but that's the reality of convenience and piracy.

[Michael]

The last movie I actually paid to see was Prometheus, and that was the first one in about 3-4 years. It's sad, but that's the reality of convenience and piracy.

When movies like Prometheus are made, that's when I support piracy.

[Findecanor]

I have worked for several years at a company that streamed movies over the Internet for rent. I know a bit about the industry and what limits there are in the technology. The movie industry is very conservative, keeps variety down and prices up which suppresses competition between service providers, while the service providers have ways to lock in the consumer in subscription programs. As far as I know, practically no online movie rental business is making any real money on rental, which means that the risk of your service being cancelled is quite possible.

Streaming a movie to you over the Internet does cost money, every time, so the provider would lose money on you if you watch it more than what they consider to be average. I would not be surprised if a provider would define "buy" to actually be a form of rental, such as "watch up to n times" and/or "watch within n months".

I think that it will take some time before movie rental/buying online becomes a good choice for the consumer, if it ever does. For the time being, I'd rather go to the place on the corner and rent a physical DVD.
I would absolutely never "buy" the rights to only stream a movie. In a hypothetical scenario, maybe I would stream a movie if that was included in the online purchase of a physical disc, so that I could start watching a movie while the disc is still in the mail -- but that would be it.

The biggest reasons against buying the right to stream have already been mentioned, but I could mention a few more:

* When you stream it over the Internet, the quality will usually be lower than on a DVD. On some devices/systems the quality could vary with available bandwidth over time. Some services offer "HD" streaming, but the bitrate (which translates to quality) is usually relatively low anyway, and you will need a fast, stable connection.
With a physical disc you will always get the best quality available.

* With a BluRay/DVD, you will get extra material, commentary tracks, etc. that you won't get with online streaming.

[lightsout714]

If its cheaper to just buy the bluray. Why not buy it, rip the disc and then sell them used towards your next movie. Get yourself a little file server going and just keep them on a hard drive.

[iri]

>>Is buying movies over the internet viable?

no. that's why i download them.

[mashby]

If its cheaper to just buy the bluray. Why not buy it, rip the disc and then sell them used towards your next movie. Get yourself a little file server going and just keep them on a hard drive.

This is true and what I've found is that many studios are including the iTunes version as well. If you're an Apple user, this means you don't have to rip the disc.

I did this when I bought my wife a season of the HBO series True Blood. Opened the box, grabbed the code and entered it in iTunes an boom, it was on my Apple TV. I wish more studios would do this.

[SmallFry]

I'm with Metalliqaz on the fact that digital ownership is alarming. I've found ways to rip the DRM from content I own from several services such as iTunes.

[badcop]

If its cheaper to just buy the bluray. Why not buy it, rip the disc and then sell them used towards your next movie. Get yourself a little file server going and just keep them on a hard drive.

ah the grey area of piracy.  this is the best (legal issues aside) way to get digtal media.  YOU have control over the quality, file format and how you consume it (WHEN WHERE and HOW).  Plex and XBMC are fantastic TV designed interfaces.  I have a 4 TB raid setup hooked up to my mac mini which lives under my tv.  it organizes movies and TV so much better than DVDs and you get ratings, summaries and cover art automatically.

[yester64]

I see. Need to buy a blue-ray drive for da computa...

That when and where is what companies always ignore or at least the where.
See, that was my concern that if i buy a movie from Amazon that i can not play it *anywhere* i want it. So what is the point? I don't want to buy a device to watch it.
There are only so much movies i like to watch and i don't want to be a collector really. It seems anyway that quality in movies goes down (the latest seem pretty bad).
My friend so far is Amazon as far as it goes buying movies. I just bought Goldmember in the 3 pack for $13 which i think is a good price.

In my vision, i had the notion that we will get a great experience from the studios with content i can buy online and watch where i want it. Just like as it is with music. But i guess i am mistaken.
Streaming is great so far. I don't use Amazon that much since most of the stuff is on netflix as well. Sadly, i am still waiting on Dr.Who Season 7.

I have a doku laying around from germany which i was not able to watch. Can't do that with the PS3 or the console will be voided.
Of course i can buy another player, but didn't want to spend money on that either. So i guess i will buy a reader for the comp to make a copy so i can play it. A big thanks to the studios for that.

I do have the same concern in regards of ownership with books as well. In theory its great but i am not sure if i want to buy books that way.

@oldcop is that an alpha romeo?

[SpAmRaY]

For those considering ripping blurays that haven't done it before be prepared to take up between 30-80Gb of hard drive space in the process.

This may only be an issue with those who only have small SSD's.

To the OP I do a lot of Netflix streaming and take advantage of Amazon coupons/codes fire discounted/free movies.

But just just buying movies digitally, not for me until the price is a $1 or less.

[yester64]

For those considering ripping blurays that haven't done it before be prepared to take up between 30-80Gb of hard drive space in the process.

This may only be an issue with those who only have small SSD's.

To the OP I do a lot of Netflix streaming and take advantage of Amazon coupons/codes fire discounted/free movies.

But just just buying movies digitally, not for me until the price is a $1 or less.

Agree. I use handbrake a lot before. I think it will be my friend again. Need to build a new computer anyway but i do have room for doing it. If anyone does use handbrake, a config file would be nice.

I don't that at this point i would buy a movie online like i do for mp3. Not a good deal.